our fourth.

We had a good holiday weekend. Like real good.

Which I wasn't sure it would be with Mr. P working the whole time, but it was.

I've been getting a little emotional lately about this new baby thing. Which is a whole 'nother post in itself but let's just say that my heart has been a little sore lately as I think about dividing my time between two littles. So when I heard that Mr. P was working, I decided that I was going to make it a great "girls weekend". Just a grand 'ol time the two of us.

Then BG woke up in rare form on Friday morning and refused to listen and had a meltdown over her outfit and I was in tears by 11 am. True life y'all.

I gave myself a minute to be woe is me: "we have no friends here", "she has no friends", "this is going to be the WORST holiday ever" (I'm nothing if not dramatic, and wrong, 98% of the time), and then I packed us up and headed to the park. Where we stayed and ran around until I noticed her ear was pouring blood. So off to Urgent Care we went.

A quick diagnosis of conjuctivitis and an outer ear infection later we were on our way.

A friend of mine texted to see if we wanted to join her and her family for the rest of the afternoon so we packed it up and headed over there where we spent the next few hours lounging around with friends. It was good. And tired BG out. WIN.

Mr. P came home to two girls in the bed at 9:30. We decided to wake the little one up for the fireworks in the neighborhood but that was shortlived as she was terrified. So back to bed we went.

We spent the next day lounging around the house. BG played upstairs a lot (yay for new found independence!!) while I got some stuff done downstairs. Around lunch time, I decided we both needed a break so we packed a lunch and had a little picnic outside on the patio.

We made a quick trip for ice cream and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool before moving inside for a late afternoon movie.

It was a quiet weekend. But it was so good. I do enjoy this age so much. She just loves everything she gets to do with us and she's (usually) just so happy to be doing it with us. We girls needed a weekend like this. I won't mention ago how prevalent it is in my mind that there's not that many left just the two of us..

Hope you all enjoyed your holiday!

four.

And just like that, my girl is four.
I wish there was a way to put into words exactly what I feel when I look at her. What I feel when I think about her. Just how much I stinking love her. We have this little game we play where I say "Ella, come here I need to tell you a secret" to which she yells out "I LOVE YOU!!" and then bursts into laughter. Yes, she knows my next line because I tell her that 100 times a day. Yet it's not enough. It doesn't even begin to describe how much I truly do love her.

Which I know she'll never get. Well, not until she has a kid of her own because no one could explain it to me. It's just the way it is. It's this crazy, all consuming love and pride for this little person that I get the joy of watching grow and change every single day. It's just the best.

So who are you at four Baby Girl? What do you like:

Favorite Color: purple

Favorite Food: sandwiches (me too girl, me too)

Favorite Movie: Frozen (shocker)

Favorite Book: Go Dog Go

Favorite Thing To Wear: flip flops and dresses

Favorite Toy: Oliver (the big dog)

Best Friend: Kathryn, Zoie, Livingston

Favorite Song: Let It Go (shocker again)

Favorite Drink: lemonade

You have a laugh that is infectious. You have an absolute joy for life that is something I hope never decreases in you. You love learning and going to school. You also thoroughly enjoy church and look forward to going each week. You have a mind like a sponge and come out of school and church every week reciting something new you learned. And you never forget. We can ask you something from months ago and you'll remember it like it happened yesterday. This is both good and bad as you never forget anything we say either. We can't get anything past you.

You are extremely active. You move all day everyday and you don't nap, so there is no refresher in the middle of the day. You are up and moving from 7:30 am until you pass out at night. Your parents stay exhausted. You? not so much.


You have the biggest heart. You love people so much. Sometimes you take it too heart a bit too much when you and your little friends argue at school. Which makes me go all Mama bear but I know is just one of those life lessons. You genuinely care about people. You will always try to befriend others at the park and you don't like it when someone is left out. You have the best heart.

You also enjoy animals. A lot. You love ours and we have to stop you daily from petting random ones on the street.

You are a bit sarcastic and have a bit of an attitude which we are working to tame. But I was the same way and it hasn't gone away so... We pray daily on patience with you. Your quick wit, intelligence, and sarcasm are sometimes quite the naughty trifecta and end you up in hot water. You are funny, but sometimes it needs to be reigned in.
You are so funny girl. And you know it.You make jokes and say the silliest things and you love getting a rise out of people. You will be class clown for sure. No denying that. You know how to work a crowd and though you may be shy in certain surroundings at first, that doesn't last long and in no time you are dancing and hugging and smiling your way through the crowd.

You thrive on people. You LOVE your people. You've adopted some amazing "family" through your friends you've made and through your Dad and my friends. You never meet a stranger and are the girl in the grocery store waving at everyone you pass. You were made to be a social butterfly and you definitely are.

Baby Girl you'll never know how much we love you and how proud we are of who you are becoming. From that tight lipped little smile to the way you bust into "shake your booty" complete with dance moves, you keep us on our toes and keep us laughing at all times. Days can be hard with you but they are also oh so amazing. They broke the mold after you little one. You are our special little nugget. We love you more than the world.

Mama & Dada

because she's funny.

Saturday morning I drove down to attend the baby shower of one of my best friends, leaving Mr. P and the little to fend for themselves.

They managed to get up and get to ballet on time and since the morning was running so smooth, he figured he'd take her out for a quick lunch. So they're in the car driving and he tells her that they're going to grab lunch.

"Where?" she asked (girl knows her restaurants. We eat out way too much).

"How about Zaxby's?" always Mr. P's choice.

"I don't want Zaxby's Dada!! I want a sandwich from the sandwich shop!!" the little whined back.

So Mr. P proceeds to get on to her about whining and asks her if she'd like to rephrase her comment and try again.

Without a moments hesitation she fired back, "Zaxby's is closed".

They still went to Zaxby's. I couldn't stop laughing. Give us strength.

halloween.

Months ago, BG decided that she wanted to be a Mexican jumping bean for Christmas.

I was kind of excited. I mean, how cool. Plus totally original. I loved it.

I set to work finding brown material to make her "bean" and found a sombrero for her to wear. It was going to be EPIC.

Then we went shopping with my aunt and my girl walked by Pottery Barn Kids and suddenly, she HAD to be the purple fairy princess she saw hanging in the window.

Blast.

I thought for sure she would forget about it but as Halloween got closer and closer, it was clear that wasn't going to happen.

Mr. P and I really didn't want to pay the (ridiculously overpriced) price of the PBK costume so she and I ended up at Target one night to try and sway her decision. While there, I got a text from Mr. P saying "just go get the purple one. She'll be the cutest fairy princess ever". Wrapped he is.

But she found a Tinkerbell costume at Target that she liked so we got it. But she wasn't that excited about it.

Long story short; we are pushovers. And BG ended up with two costumes for Halloween. But her smile when we picked out the purple fairy costume (in two sizes too big mind you, last minute sucks), was totally worth it. Mr. P was right; she was the cutest fairy princess I ever did see.

Once she was all dolled up, we headed downtown to our local business trick-or-treat. It was packed out. There were tons of "characters" walking around, which BG is terrified of, and tons of businesses doling out all kinds of fun stuff. We did manage to get her to take a picture with a Ghostbuster. That was all she was having.

We did about half of the walk through and then headed back to our neighborhood. We walked around for a bit, checked out a local haunted house (which only I went through with a bunch of high school girls; holy hilarious), and then headed on home about eight when it was clear a certain toddler was Halloween'd out.

It was a really, really good time. We may be about ninety bucks poorer, but the fairy princess was worth it.

another first for the books.

Weekend Wrap-up huh? Does anyone still do these anymore? Probably not. Oh well. Today I am.

This weekend was awesome. Absolutely positively so much fun.

A few months ago, my very football crazy aunt bought tickets for the Charlotte Panthers/New York Giants game. She was stoked at the chance to come see her beloved Eli Manning play so she snatched up tickets basically the minute we moved to the Charlotte area. My brother and sister in law made plans to come up for the weekend and we've all been so excited for this weekend.

But plans change. And when kiddos are involved, they change quickly.

The day before my S & Kiki were supposed to come down, their little one came down with the chicken pox. Which quickly put a kibosh on the weekend plans.

My aunt and granddad still came down though so Saturday we took them with us to the littles' ballet practice and then headed over to Southpark to do a bit of shopping. My Papa and Mr. P did most of the entertaining of the little one (who is finally at the age where these excursions are mostly fun) while my aunt and I hit basically every store in the entire mall. True story.

BG hit a few stores with us and as she exclaimed "look! isn't this so cute!" over and over as she showed us stuff, I was hit with a memory so hard it took my breath away. I remember spending Saturdays growing up shopping with my Grandma and aunt and now here I am, with the same aunt and my little girl shopping away on a Saturday. Some traditions are too awesome to not keep.

Since we now had two extra tickets, we decided to just take E to the game with us instead of leaving her behind. I figured if she got super bored, we would just walk the concourse for a bit. I honestly wasn't too worried about it.

And I truly shouldn't have been.

We dropped the three of them off at the stadium while Mr. P and I went and parked. We then walked the mile back to the stadium and met back up with them. We went on through security and checked in at the guest counter where BG was gifted a certificate to commemorate her first Panthers game.

We found our seats, then found some overpriced hotdogs and drink to consume. BG ate and kept her eyes on the beginning of the game. She was being so good!

She lost interest for a bit but just sat down in front of her chair and played on the stadium floor (no judgement!) for a bit. After a quick rest on her Mama's lap, BG was ready to finish out the game. And finish the game she did.

In no time she was high fiving those around us, dancing with the cheerleaders, and having a blast watching the Panther dance around the end zone. I'm not sure she watched a bit of football, but it didn't matter. She clearly had a blast. And so did the rest of us.

The weather was perfection. The city is perfection. And though the Giants basically didn't show up to play at all, it was still worth it to go. It was an absolutely perfect day.
We ended the day with wings and ice-cream before collapsing in the bed pretty early. It's safe to say my girl enjoyed her first NFL game. And so did her parents. Such a good day.

(almost) wordless wednesday

When Mom sleeps in on a Sunday morning and it's up to the Dad to handle breakfast, the Dad and the kid will sneak off only to return with a dozen doughnuts. And it is so good...

k-3

So my baby started another year of school.

Why oh why does she insist on growing so incredibly fast?!?

My girl loves school. LOVES it. And prefers to go to school over much else. So drop off was easy. I didn't expect anything different.

She loves her friends, loves her teacher, loves learning. It's so good for her.

She doesn't love naps but it is what it is. While the other kids nap, she gets one on one time with her teacher working on other lessons. It works. She comes home absolutely flat exhausted, but, what are you gonna do?

I can't believe how much she's grown in a year. She's gotten so tall and has thinned out so much. And her hair is finally growing. It took forever, but was worth the wait.


I've been trying to get E to let me do an "interview" of sorts to post on here about what she likes at 3, but she's having none of that mess. So I wrote her answers down here. It's more for us to just look back at one day.

Interview With A Toddler:

Favorite color: pink and purple
Favorite sport: soccer
Best friend: Lacy
Favorite food: Pizza and applesauce (though I think that's just because that's what she was eating at the time. It's probably more like cheeseburger)
Favorite clothes: a dress
Favorite TV show: Dora (though this should probably be Dragon Tales
Favorite movie: The Dora & Diego movie
Favorite song: Call Me Maybe

Here's to another year. Let's do this kiddo.

4 years ago.

I kind of love the Timehop app. It's so fun to open that thing up and see what I was doing one, two, and three years ago.

Yesterday, I opened it up to a status from four years ago. In the status I was complaining about how completely exhausted I was at a soccer tournament I was participating in.

I giggled when I read it because I remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember how tired I was. How sore I was. How on Saturday I just knew I wouldn't be able to move at all on Sunday let along play another three or four games.

I also remember how unbelievably preoccupied I was that whole weekend. Our uniform shorts were white and I just KNEW I was going to start my period out there in the middle of that field. I rushed to the bathroom every single break just knowing it was going to come.

But it never did.

My Timehop app status from four years ago today? "....well that's one heck of a curve ball."

And it was. Because that Monday, I went to work just as preoccupied as I had been all weekend continuing to wait on something that wasn't going to come.

I went about my day four years ago like normal. Putting in IV's, doing tests, helping in surgery; but deep inside I knew. I knew that I was pregnant. That I was fixing to embark on a journey that could be really, really short again, or that could change my life forever.

At lunch, my co-worker Donna suggested we go get a test because even she could see how worked up I was. So after too much Mexican food, I hopped into CVS before heading back to work.

One positive test, one immediate panic attack, so many tears. I was terrified. But absolutely overjoyed at what that test meant.

Four years ago. Wow. Never in my life could I imagine how much one little person could change my life. She is hands down, the best little person I've ever known. She's taught me to love in a way I never thought I was capable of.

The last four years have been so, so hard but they have been so, so good. SO good.

She's the last remaining puzzle piece that was missing in my life. And I thank God that four years ago, He saw fit to bless me with a "yes". Because that yes is my heart and soul. And life is better because of her.

tidbits of her.

Age three is quite the age.

There are certainly lows (the tantrums, the attitude, the back talk, the... on and on and on) but there are also so many highs. So, so many.

Her little personality shows through a little bit more everyday. And who she is becoming kind of rocks.

My favorite Disney movie is the Fox and the Hound. Which also happens to be just about the saddest movie ever. Which I don't think I realized but good grief, that thing is sad. Currently that movie is also BG's favorite movie. So we've been watching it on just about repeat lately. It's rare that she actually sits down and watches but this morning she sat down with her breakfast to watch.

I ran upstairs to get dressed while she watched the part where the lady drops the fox off at the game preserve. All of a sudden I heard a bunch of "ahh"s over and over in the saddest little voice ever. I peeked down the stairs just in time to hear her call "Mom! That lady left that fox on the road! In the rain!". As I started to explain why she had to do that, she turned to me with tear filled eyes and I quickly felt mine well up as well.

Her heart is good as gold. I'm loving the person she is becoming. I'm loving that she cares.

Now if we could just tone down the sass and keep the big 'ol heart.

ww: summer fun

Good grief I love her smile.

life this side of three.

When I was growing up, it seemed that Moms with kids three and older, had it going on. It seemed that by that point, they knew what was going on and could handle any situation thrown their way.

Strangely enough, when my baby turned three, I didn't feel at all that way.

Most days she hands me at least two situations where I scratch my head and wonder what the hell just happened. She says things that I swear an eight year old shouldn't say, and she knows things that even I don't know.

It's sort of ridiculous.

When she goes to bed at night, I literally collapse because my brain is absolutely throbbing from the mental tests she has put me through the day.

Those Moms I watched growing up? I am so sorry for not cutting you any slack. I should've bought you a drink.

Then there's the older side of a three year old. The side that I absolutely, positively cannot get enough of.

This little 3 1/2 foot creature that resides in my house is the funniest person I've ever met. From shouting out "you're doggone right!" at the most inopportune times, to making up completely off the wall songs, I spend a good portion of my day in hysterics. Sometimes that's not a good thing; like when I'm trying my hardest to discipline her but she's pulling out one of her jokes and for the love of all that is holy, I give in and laugh every time.
the day she turned threeShe's funny. She knows it. I swear she thinks it's a weapon.

She's also smart. As a whip.

She was moved up to 3K early and she is loving that fact. At least once daily we hear "I'm in 3K now because I'm 3. And because I'm smart!". Humility will be something we work on later.

But I love her confidence. I love when she blurts out "I'm funny!" when we tell her she's not (this is usually in reference to the fact that she already thinks humor can get her out of everything). I love that she already knows what she's good at. She's good at funny. I secretly hope she always is.
cupcakes for breakfast on her birthdayShe's still a fan of music and more often than not is asking me to "turn it up!" or squealing "I just love this song!".

She's still cautious in situations she's not sure of tending to stick between my legs on those occasions, but it doesn't take her long to warm up. And when she does? there won't be a stranger in the room because she'll quickly let you know who she is followed by at least ten minutes where she'll tell you as many words as she can get in before you leave.

She's a talker that one.

My drives home with her are filled with stories of what her little friends did at school and almost daily I laugh to myself when I remember how I used to do the same thing. Growing up it frustrated me to no end that my Mom would tell me "Megan, I don't know any of these people" but now, well I feel the same. Though I let her tell the stories anyway. The mantra "all the things she's telling you are big things to her" runs through my head as I nod along and just try to keep up with what Sophia, Collin, and Eden did today.

I never can keep up.
The words come a mile a minute and I try to remind myself to soak it in because I know she won't always talk to me like this. I'm not perfect though. There are times she and I have to separate because we're no longer bringing the good out in each other. It happens.

She's my sidekick. She's my heart and soul. She can also be a pain in my neck. But truthfully, I wouldn't have it any other way.

And the days where we've butted heads all day and ended on a bad note, well, those disappear when I sneak into her room and look at those baby cheeks (one of the last bits of baby on her) with those long eyelashes resting on them and those sweet, chubby hands curled underneath. She's so, so cool.

Life this side of three is tiring, but good grief it's also all sorts of awesome.

(almost) wordless wednesday

I set out the other day determined to take a few pictures of my newly three year old little girl.

Unfortunately I picked the worst time of day (way too bright) and a less than cooperative subject for my pictures (she wanted to play, I wanted pictures). So the pictures aren't great. But I kind of love them anyway because she's in her element; playing and reading and just being who she is. The pictures are silly but so is she. So maybe they're a win?

K. Still no. But they are definitely a glimpse of who my newly three year old is.
>...and the face I see a bit too often. Clearly this means the photo shoot is over no?

"hear ye, hear ye! princess ella is 3!"

About the time my girl turned two, she started talking about how she wanted a "Princess party" when she turned three.

I attempted to steer her away from that a bit (I really thought I would at least get a couple of parties in before the themes took over!), but she held firm. Girl wanted a Princess party. And she wanted one bad.

So she got herself a Princess party. And it sort of rocked. It was kind of a perfect day.

The weeks leading up to the party had been unseasonably cool and rainy and I was about certain the party was going to be washed out. But it wasn't. The weather was actually perfect. Hot even. So much better than wet and gross.

For months, I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to do for this party. I had all this grandiose plans and then in true Megan form, I flaked, procrastinated, and found myself the night before in a panic when I realized I had done absolutely nothing to get ready for the party the very. next. morning.

Fortunately Mr. P had taken it upon himself to order a bounce house. It was even a Princess one. He wins.
crown decorating station
In spite of the fact that I was up way too late (and totally took my family down with me!), everything turned out just like I wanted. Or pretty close anyway. I'll call it a win.

BG was surrounded by most of her favorite people on the planet. Her best friend (and mine) from Anderson made the trip down, her family was all here, her little best buddy here in Florence (and mine) were here, as was her favorite school friend. Girl was surrounded by love. Details from a store are nice, but they can't make a day like special people can.

I'm pretty lucky to have such amazing people in my life. Friends who love my kid like family. Family who is always there. Hit the jackpot with the people I surround myself with. Thank you all so much for coming to celebrate our THREE year old! I'm still not used to saying that...